arthritis

arthritis,

painful inflammation of a joint or joints of the body, usually producing heat and redness. There are many kinds of arthritis. In its various forms, arthritis disables more people than any other chronic disorder. The condition can be brought about by nerve impairment, increased or decreased function of the endocrine glands, or degeneration due to age. Less frequently, it is caused by infection (tuberculosistuberculosis(TB), contagious, wasting disease caused by any of several mycobacteria. The most common form of the disease is tuberculosis of the lungs (pulmonary consumption, or phthisis), but the intestines, bones and joints, the skin, and the genitourinary, lymphatic, and.....Click the link for more information., gonorrheagonorrhea, common infectious disease caused by a bacterium (Neisseria gonorrhoeae), involving chiefly the mucous membranes of the genitourinary tract. It may occasionally spread to membranes in other parts of the body, especially those of the joints and the eyes......Click the link for more information., Lyme diseaseLyme diseaseor Lyme borreliosis,a nonfatal bacterial infection that causes symptoms ranging from fever and headache to a painful swelling of the joints. The first American case of Lyme's characteristic rash was documented in 1970 and the disease was first identified.....Click the link for more information., rheumatic feverrheumatic fever, systemic inflammatory disease, extremely variable in its manifestation, severity, duration, and aftereffects. It is frequently followed by serious heart disease, especially when there are repeated attacks. Rheumatic fever usually affects children......Click the link for more information.).

Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune diseaseautoimmune disease,any of a number of abnormal conditions caused when the body produces antibodies to its own substances. In rheumatoid arthritis, a group of antibody molecules called collectively RF, or rheumatoid factor, is complexed to the individual's own gamma globulin.....Click the link for more information. of unknown cause, is the most crippling form. Women are much more susceptible to it than men. Although rheumatoid arthritis usually appears between the ages of 25 and 50, it also occurs in children. Osteoarthritis, the most common type, occurs usually in people over 50. It tends to be more severe when the joints have been strained by obesity or overwork. Goutgout,condition that manifests itself as recurrent attacks of acute arthritis, which may become chronic and deforming. It results from deposits of uric acid crystals in connective tissue or joints......Click the link for more information., the third most common form of arthritis, affects men almost exclusively.

Symptomatic treatment for arthritis includes use of heat, physical therapy, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugsnonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug,a drug that suppresses inflammation in a manner similar to steroids, but without the side effects of steroids; commonly referred to by the acronym NSAID ......Click the link for more information. such as a cox-2 inhibitor (Celebrex), aspirinaspirin,acetyl derivative of salicylic acid (see salicylate) that is used to lower fever, relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and thin the blood. Common conditions treated with aspirin include headache, muscle and joint pain, and the inflammation caused by rheumatic fever and.....Click the link for more information., ibuprofenibuprofen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that reduces pain, fever, and inflammation. Along with naproxen and ketoprofen, ibuprofen belongs to the propionic acid class of NSAIDs. It was first made available in 1967......Click the link for more information., and naproxennaproxenand naproxen sodium,potent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) used to alleviate the minor pain of arthritis, menstruation, headaches, and the like, and to reduce fever......Click the link for more information.. Remission of symptoms can sometimes be achieved with methotrexate, gold salts, penicillamine, and short-term cortisonecortisone, steroid hormone whose main physiological effect is on carbohydrate metabolism. It is synthesized from cholesterol in the outer layer, or cortex, of the adrenal gland under the stimulation of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)......Click the link for more information., but they often have undesirable side effects. Orthopedic surgery, including artificial joint implantation, may be done in severe cases.

Arthritis

a group of joint diseases that are of infectious origin or arise as a result of disruption of the nutrition of the joint. Arthritis can be an independent disease or a manifestation of some other disease. Symptoms that may indicate arthritis include pain, redness, swelling, deformation, impaired joint function, increase of local (cutaneous) temperature above the joint, and fever. In different forms of the disease the symptoms appear in various combinations.

The Ninth International Congress of Rheumatologists in 1957 accepted a working classification and nomenclature of joint diseases; this was reflected in the classification and terminology of joint diseases developed in the USSR in the same year. The classification was based on etiological (causal), pathogenetic (according to the mechanism of evolution), and clinical-anatomical principles. The disease of one joint is monoarthritis; of several joints, polyarthritis. Arthritis can be acute and chronic, with or without effusion (serous, suppurative, or hemorrhagic). According to its origin, arthritis is divided into traumatic, infectious, degenerative, arthritis associated with other diseases, and rare forms of joint lesions. The infectious forms of arthritis include rheumatic fever (Sokol’skii-Bouillaud’s disease); arthritis associated with the presence in the organism of one or another specific infection, such as tuberculous, syphilitic, dysenteric, gonorrheal, septic, and brucellosis arthritis; infectious nonspecific arthritis; and ankylosing spondylitis (von Bechterew-Strumpell’s disease). Degenerative arthritis arises as a result of metabolic disturbance and includes gouty arthritis, arthritis accompanying Kashin-Beck disease and hemophilia, rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative (hypertrophic) arthritis (osteoarthritis), and arthritis resulting from changes in the endocrine system (climacteric, thyrotoxic, and so on). This group also includes arthritis associated with vitamin deficiency (scorbutic arthritis), physical over-exertion, chilling, and unsanitary conditions at home and on the job (arthritis in miners, transport workers, and metallurgical workers). Traumatic arthritis includes arthritis occurring after open (penetrating) or closed joint injury, as well as in cases of repeated mild traumatism (vibration arthritis). Arthritis can also be associated with diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, periarteritis nodosa, leukemia and other blood diseases, psoriasis, and diseases of the nervous system.

In some cases arthritis progresses with little change in the joints; in other cases there is significant change in the synovial sheath, cartilage, bone, and joint capsule and ligaments. Arthritis can terminate in complete restoration of normal joint function, but it can also lead to disfigurement of the joint and its partial or complete immobilization.

Treatment consists of isolation of the factor causing arthritis or treatment of the disease that caused its development. Depending on the character of the arthritis, antibiotics, hormone preparations, anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, physiotherapy, or therapeutic gymnastics are prescribed. Surgical treatment is widely used; this consists of resection of the capsule, arthroplasty, arthrotomy, and arthrodesis. Treatment is also carried out at health resorts (including Tskhaltubo, Piatigorsk, Saki, and Evpatoriia in the USSR).

In the prevention of arthritis, sanitation measures for work and daily life are very significant. These measures include improvement of working methods, labor protection, safety technology, elimination or lessening of professional hazards, and observation of hygiene in dwellings and dress.

If bacterial organisms are the cause of rheumatoid arthritic infections, one precaution that should be taken when going to the dentist for fillings and extractions is to increase the intake of vitamin C.

Many arthritic, bone-on-bone patients, often younger than 60, are told to sit at home and wait for their knee replacement; however, the technology and expertise exists that can return them to their activities and keep them from having a knee replacement for an average of approximately ten years," according to Stone.

HMP Communications (Malvern, PA), a producer of information for a range of healthcare categories, has begun the publication of "Arthritis Practitioner," a new magazine for healthcare professionals, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, working with arthritic patients.

The net result of these phenomena may be a population that is, paradoxically, more obese, diabetic, arthritic, disabled, and medicated, but with lower overall CVD [cardiovascular disease] risk," concluded several investigators in a companion study.

The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the occurrence of anti-tTG-positive results in a cohort of arthritic patients, in whom the target organ is located at a distance from the intestine.

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